


Everything She Wants

by ArdeaJestin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Beach Holidays, Christmas, Dirty Talk, Drinking, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Light Dom/sub, Office Party, Skinny Dipping, Swearing, Voice Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-09-14 05:37:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArdeaJestin/pseuds/ArdeaJestin
Summary: What can you do when it's the holidays and you're the office Scrooge? Go on a group trip to the Caribbean with your colleague and his new boyfriend, of course. But Ben Solo wasn't counting on the Ghost of Christmas Past to appear in the form of Rey, the cute typist with whom he had a one-night stand a year before and has been crazy about ever since.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HopelesslyReylo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopelesslyReylo/gifts).



Fuck Armitage Hux.

 

Seriously, fuck him, Ben thought, dropping his bag on the floor of his hotel room. For years and years, Hux had played the part of the cold, ruthless jackass at Galaxy Advertising, turning the accounting department into a den of cutthroat pirates in silk ties and checkered shirts. _Then_ he’d come out of the closet, _then_ he suddenly decided that Ben would be his confidante as he explored this liberating new lifestyle, _then_ he’d found himself a boyfriend and invited him to spend Christmas with them in the Caribbean, at an exclusive resort, with what he had referred to as “a bunch of Poe’s friends”.

 

Ben was expecting other gay couples, which suited him just fine, as he planned on doing nothing else than downing Mai-Tais and reading detective novels in a  folding chair for a week. What he hadn’t planned on was  coming face to face with the person he least wanted  to  see . 

 

He had arrived a little later than the rest of the group, officially because he had some work to wrap up, unofficially because he wanted to avoid taking the plane with them and ending up having to make small talk with someone he barely knew, stuck in a cramped seat with only a bag of salted peanuts to distract him. When he’d arrived at the hotel, a gorgeous, streamlined building overlooking a turquoise sea – he had to hand it to Hux, it wasn’t too shabby – he’d spotted his colleague in the lobby, sporting a pink tee-shirt and linen vest and accompanied by a handsome dark-haired man in a Hawaiian shirt. Hux waved at him and the pair came to greet him in front of the registration desk. 

 

“Ben, this is Poe Dameron, whom I’ve told you so much about,” Hux said with a hint of pride.

 

“Hey man, how’s it going?” Poe said with a grin, thrusting his hand at him. “Bangin’ sunshine, huh? I hope you’re planning on getting a tan.”

 

“Ummm… yeah,” Ben replied warily, thinking of the SPF 45 sunscreen he’d packed in his bag. 

 

“Oh, and over there at the bar are my friends. Hey guys!”

 

Ben looked over Poe’s shoulder at the three people who were standing up from the tiki bar and his heart froze in his chest. Two of them – a couple, apparently, though not gay - he’d never seen before, but the third person was agonizingly familiar. A lithe silhouette, sparkling hazel eyes, and a smile that could stop a train in its tracks… though she was scowling now, and he could understand why. What the hell was Rey Niima doing here? 

 

“So this is Finn, Rose, and Rey, but I think you two might know each other already?” Poe said, blithely unaware of the cataclysmic repercussions of his holiday planning. “Armie told me you worked together at Galaxy Advertising, I had no idea!”

 

“Not in the same department,” Rey said quickly. “He’s in accounting.”

 

Ben nodded.  “It’s a big company.”

 

“We all go back to the days where we were starving artists trying to make it in New York,” Finn explained. “When we didn’t have enough money to spend Christmas in Long Island, let alone in the Caribbean.” 

 

“Rey’s the only one who refused to sell her soul to the devil,” Rose said with a sigh. “She’s just working as a typist until her art career picks up, but we caved and work for New Force Advertising.”

 

“Don’t tell the boss I’m sleeping with the enemy,” Hux joked, nuzzling Poe’s neck.

 

Ben  forced his mouth into a smile, which wasn’t easy when you felt like you were slowly being strangled. “Okay then. I’m going to go unpack.”

 

“Right-o. Let’s meet up at the beach after.”

 

So there he was: about to spend a week in sunny paradise with Hux and his boyfriend, who said things like _bangin’_ and _right-o_ unironically, another couple, and the woman he had fucked right before last year’s Christmas party and had never stopped thinking about since. Fantastic. Why on earth had he accepted this invitation in the first place? 

 

Right. Because the Caribbean was the least Christmas-y destination he could think of. That was the price you paid for telling anyone who would listen that you absolutely loathed the holidays.

 

*

 

“Honestly, I know I sound dorky when I say that, but I love the holidays. It really is the most magical time of the year.”

 

Ben  nodded and ordered two more  Alabama Slammers. At this point in the evening, he would have nodded at anything Rey said. He’d been waiting for a  chance to talk to her for  _months_ – and now she was sitting right next to him at the bar, her beautiful legs crossed under her pencil skirt, laughing at his jokes –  _laughing at his jokes_ , that alone was a sign that she was either  very drunk or open to more than  j ust a friendly drink between colleagues.

 

To be fair, the pre-Christmas party bar hop was always more than friendly drinks between colleagues. It was well-known within Galaxy Advertising that if you were single and looking to get laid, this was a far more acceptable way of going about it than screwing someone over the copy machine while the bigwigs in the conference room drank stale champagne and thanked everyone for “our best year yet”.

 

Ben  had hesitated endlessly before finally joining in. This would be the perfect opportunity to approach Rey, yet at the same time he didn’t want to become one of those guys who plied the girls from the secretarial pool with alcohol to add another notch to their bedpost. He needn’t have worried, though; Rey was plying herself wit hout help from anyone . 

 

“So what about you?” she asked him, eyes twinkling. “Scrooge or Santa?”

 

Was she kidding? His stubborn unwillingness to tell anyone about any holiday plans, year after year, had earned him a reputation throughout the office as the resident Grinch. Apparently she hadn’t gotten the memo.

 

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “My family wasn’t really big on Christmas, but I guess I could get into it with the right person.”

 

“That’s pretty much a rule of thumb for a lot of things,” she said, shifting slightly on her stool so that her knees were almost brushing against his.

 

“Right.” He cleared his throat and took a swig of his cocktail. “So, uh… do you have decorations all over your apartment or what?”

 

“Ben Solo!” she exclaimed with mock indignation. “Are you trying to get yourself invited back to my place?”

 

He took another sip; a pleasant warmth bubbled in his stomach and his veins pulsed with  ardor . “Maybe. Would that be wrong of me?”

 

“Forward, perhaps, but not wrong,” she murmured, edging closer still. 

 

Half an hour and a taxi ride later, her skirt was bunched up on her hips and he was fucking her against her kitchen counter, so hard that the mugs and glasses were rattling in the cupboards. Not that he had a particular kink for sex outside the bedroom - though this might well give him one - but the tiny kitchen was right next to the front door. They hadn’t been able to get any further than that before trying to rip each others’ clothes off, and when even that was taking too long, ripping off just enough so he could spread her legs and slide into her.

 

“Yes, Ben, just like that,” she whimpered. “Don’t stop.”

 

“Shit, baby, you’re so tight,” he grunted against her neck. “You’re so good… Fuck, I think I’m going to come.”

 

“Wait – _wait_...”

 

It took a colossal effort from the part of his brain that had not yet been annihilated with pure animal lust to make him stop. “What?” he panted. “What is it?”

 

“Pin my hands above my head.”

 

This was an interesting development, especially since he’d half expected her to ask him to pull out just in case and finish himself off on the Formica counter. He took her slight wrists in his hand, lifted them and pressed them against the upper cabinet.

 

“Won’t this hurt you?”

 

She looked at him from under her eyelashes, her pupils dilated and her face flushed with desire. “Yes, but… don’t you think I deserve it?”

 

Fucking hell, this woman was out to kill him, there was no other explanation. He started moving within her again, out of his mind with arousal.

 

“Yes, you’ve been a bad girl,” he rumbled in a low voice, then tentatively slapped her thigh. Rey responded immediately, throwing her head back and letting out a breathy wail. “A bad, _wicked_ girl. And you need to be taught some manners.”

 

He slapped her thigh again, harder this time. Rey’s eyes were screwed shut, her breathing erratic, and Ben could tell it wouldn’t take much to send them both over the edge.

 

“You don’t get to come,” he growled, every word a struggle, “until you ask for it.”

 

“Please let me come,” she moaned. “Let me come, Ben, I promise I’ll be good.”

 

That was enough for him. He pounded into her with abandon then dissolved into a hot, glorious mess, and she reached her peak seconds later, squeezing the last shreds of pleasure out of him.

 

He waited until she let her arms fall back down before gently disentangling himself. His orgasm had knocked the air straight out of him, but heaven help him, he only wanted more of the same. He wasn’t sure how to proceed, though; how did one ask to spend the night without sounding needy and pathetic? To his relief, after pulling down her skirt, Rey took his hand and led him away from the counter.

 

“So that’s the kitchen – as you can see it’s fully functional,” she teased. “Let me show the rest of the premises, starting with my bedroom.”

 

She led him across a tiny living room; from the dim glow of the streetlight outside, Ben could make out the glint of tinsel and the looming shape of a Christmas tree in a corner. He slowed to a stop.

 

“Hang on. Can you switch on the light for just a second?”

 

“Why?” she asked, almost nervous. “There’s really nothing special about my living room.”

 

“To see all these lovely decorations.”

 

She reluctantly dropped his hand to go turn the dimmer switch. “All right. But don’t laugh.”

 

Ben watched, transfixed, as a real-life December spread of _Country Living_ appeared before his eyes. Rey had decked out every inch of her living room in a blend of gold, red and green, and her tree, a perfectly shaped yet considerably hefty topiary decked out in a cascade of fairy lights, easily took up a fourth of the space. He did laugh, not out of mockery, but out of amazement. The image of his large, empty apartment stood out in his mind like a wound, and with it the distant memory of the cold, undecorated fireplace of his childhood home, rubbing salt where it stung the most.

 

“This is… incredible. I mean it, Rey. Wow.”

 

She grinned, obviously relieved. “You think? I know it’s over the top, but you know, it’s only once a year, so why not enjoy it fully?”

 

“Yeah, that makes total sense,” he replied, suddenly losing interest in the decorations and advancing towards her so they could fully enjoy other things.

 

“Oh, I see,” she purred as he grabbed her by the waist. “All right, fair’s fair. I promised you I would be good, so let me show you just how good I can be.”

 

*

 

They’d fucked so many times that night and he’d savored her beautiful cunt from so many angles that it had all blurred into a haze, but what he did remember is that he’d never experienced such intense, gut-wrenching pleasure before. The contrast between Rey’s candid sweetness and the filthy things she was down to do made him feel like he had just won the lottery. The problem with winning the lottery was that you didn’t necessarily know how to handle such an abrupt and colossal stroke of luck.

 

The next morning, he’d taken a taxi early at her suggestion so they wouldn’t be seen coming into work together. For a moment, he feared it was just an excuse to kick him out, but the soft, lingering kiss she had given him right before he left told him a different story.

 

He’d spent the entire morning light-headed from lack of sleep and post-coital euphoria, and quite unable to concentrate on his spreadsheets. He had to make a move on Rey so she’d know he wanted more than just one night of sex. Or several, though that would be pretty great too. He wanted days _and_ nights. And he certainly didn’t want to share her with anyone else.

 

In his beatific state, he’d figured the Christmas party was the perfect opportunity to ask her out on a proper date: going to see the Rockfeller Center Christmas tree, getting a hot chocolate, perhaps dinner in a fancy restaurant afterward – yes, Rey would love that. What could possibly go wrong?

 

But that wasn’t counting on the ambush he’d walked into when he went into the break room for coffee. Some of the guys were hanging out there, comparing notes from the previous evening, and they spotted Ben before he could turn around and make a run for it.

 

“Solo!” Steven exclaimed. “Saw you leave the bar with a pretty little bird last night, did you score or what?”

 

“Rey Niima, right? Her tits are too small for my taste but I’d still nail that,” Hux supplied. (In retrospect, Ben wondered, how could it have possibly escaped him that Hux was compensating for something? _How?_ )

 

Ben shook his head. “You guys got the wrong idea. She was drunk and I just wanted to make sure she got home safe.”

 

“I believe him,” Kenneth said. “No way he’d get with a chick like that. She’s the one who always tries to organize Secret Santas and decorates the office Christmas tree, like anyone gives a shit. Not really your style, Solo, am I right?”

 

Fucking Kenneth. He was always talking out of of his ass, but that dickhead had inadvertently given him a way out.

 

“Damn straight,” he snorted. “All that crap is for people who have nothing else in their life and use Christmas to give themselves a false sense of joy.” The others laughed and Ben poured himself a cup of coffee. “Anyway, I have a file I need to finish. See you guys later.”

 

He’d exited the room with a sigh of relief, only to walk straight into Rey herself. She was carrying a stack of papers and Ben was unable to tell if she’d just been standing next to the door or was on her way to give them to someone. But before he could read on her face whether she’d overheard them or not, she swerved around him briskly and stalked off.

 

The rest of the day had been agony. Ben tried and failed to think of an excuse to call Rey to his desk or bump into her, and the hours dragged on until the party. Then he had to wait through the inane speeches and false sense of cheeriness from management, slipping glances towards Rey from the corner of his eye.

 

Finally, management had retreated to whatever hell-hole had spawned them and the music had started, accompanied by copious amounts of booze. Ben approached Rey in concentric circles, glass in hand and moving his shoulders in what he hoped could pass off as dancing so it wasn’t too obvious he was making a bee-line for her. As soon as she spotted him, however, her smile dropped and her whole body took on a stony demeanor, which had an uncanny effect considering she was wearing earrings shaped like Christmas ornaments and enough golden lamé in her outfit to put a production of _The Nutcracker_ to shame.

 

“Hey,” he said, trying for nonchalance. “You having a good time?”

 

“Excellent, thank you.”

 

“These Christmas parties, man, they’re really… something.”

 

These last twenty seconds had encompassed what was possibly his lamest attempt at a conversation starter ever, and given his history with small talk, that was quite an achievement. But he wasn’t expecting a swift round of bullets in reply.

 

“Yes, I suppose it must be terribly tedious for you to be surrounded with simpering idiots like me for the whole evening.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You know, people who have nothing else in their life and use Christmas to give themselves a false sense of joy.”

 

She had definitelyoverheard, then. He bit the inside of his cheeks, wondering how he could make her understand that he hadn’t meant a word of it, that he was only trying to throw Hux and the rest of those jerks off his trail. There was no way in hell he was trusting them with the information that he had fallen, _hard_ , for the cute typist with the adorable freckled nose and the devastating British accent, and that he’d just spent the most amazing night of his life with her.

 

“Listen Rey, I -”

 

“Don’t bother,” she snapped. “I actually want to enjoy this evening if you don’t mind, so you can go be charitably polite to someone else.”

 

“Please, just -”

 

“I’m serious, Solo. Either you fuck off right now, or you get a face full of this cranberry juice punch.”

 

And that was that. He’d been so burned by their exchange and the hurt he’d caused that he’d immediately backed off, and then so ashamed of not having the courage to just explain everything, thus effectively one-night-standing her, that he’d never approached her again. She seemed to have made her mind up about him anyway, and fell in line with those who thought Ben Solo was an irascible prick, which was pretty much every single person who’d ever met him.

 

*

 

Ben was lying on his hotel bed, reliving the torture of his last exchange with Rey, when there was a knock on the door. He stood up and opened to find Hux decked out in a tank top and jungle-print bathing shorts.

 

“We’re all heading out to the beach,” he said. “You coming?”

 

Ben shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I could just slip on some shorts and join you, or I could _punch you in the fucking face_ for not telling me Rey Niima would be here.”

 

Hux bit his lip, obviously wondering if he should play it dumb and deciding against it. “Fine. I didn’t tell you because I thought you might not come if I did.”

 

“No shit, Sonny Crockett, your deduction skills have really improved since you started dating Magnum PI. Ever wonder why that might be?”

 

“Listen, if it’s about a one-night stand or whatever it is that happened between the two of you last Christmas, it’s in the past,” Hux said. “Water under the bridge and all that. Just play it cool and I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

Ben let out a grunt of frustration and went to pick up his bag, slamming it down it on the bed and tearing the zipper open. “Well, I’m stuck here anyway, so I guess I don’t have a choice.”

 

“Great. You can go change, I’ll wait for you.”

 

“Yeah, and while you do, put on some damn sunscreen,” Ben snarled, throwing the tube at him over his shoulder. “The only way this holiday could get any worse is if I have to bring you to the emergency room with a heat stroke on Christmas Eve.”


	2. Chapter 2

There was nothing left in the glass but a tiny amount of the cherry red liquid, but Rey sucked on her straw nonetheless, determined not to leave a single drop of this so-called "Christmas cocktail". The only thing vaguely Christmassy about it was its color, then again she shouldn't be surprised. After all, it was December 23rd and she was currently tanning on a beach, at a hotel where big shiny bows of gold and green had been wrapped around every palm tree and tan, skimpily dressed employees wore Santa hats.

 

This was easily the most bullshit Christmas she'd ever spent. But then that had been the whole idea when she'd accepted Poe's offer to take a trip all together to the Caribbean, even though she could barely afford it: leave behind the intense humiliation that she would forever associate with last year's holidays, where she had spent the entire stretch between the 25th and New Year's Eve alternatively bitching about men and crying on Rose's shoulder about how it never worked out for her.

 

This year, she was determined to stun herself senseless with alcohol instead of bothering Rose. Sure, she and Poe and Finn were like family - the only family she had, as a matter of fact - but that didn't mean she wanted to become the cranky old spinster of the group. Rose, however, was having none of it.

 

“Easy, tiger,” she said, glancing at her over her sunglasses. “That's your third drink and it's not even five p.m yet.”

 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Rey replied, setting her empty glass down on the small table next to her lounge chair.

 

“Seriously though, how could you _not_ know that Hux was bringing your former fling along for the trip?”

 

“I thought it might be him, I guess, but I was hoping it wasn't,” Rey replied evasively.

 

The truth was, she was practically certain of who “Armie's friend from work” was when Poe told them he was coming along. Hux had only one friend at the office, who was probably his only friend outside of the office too. That's what happened when you hid a decent personality under several thick layers of assholery. But it was too late to change her mind: the plane tickets had already been purchased and she couldn’t face spending Christmas alone.

 

“By the way, let’s not sugarcoat it and call it what it was,” she continued. “Not a fling, but a good old-fashioned hit it and quit it.”

 

Rose sighed and threw her head back on her pillow. “Don’t make me say it again. Maybe if you’d listened to what he had to say...”

 

“We’d be married and have beautiful babies together by now, yes, I know,” Rey completed with a snort. “But I’m tired of being the nice, sweet, understanding girl who gives everyone a second chance and upholds faith in mankind and brings Christmas cheer. This isn’t _It’s a_ _Wonderful Life_.”

 

“I’m pretty sure that movie didn’t include an all-night romp quite like the one you described to me,” Rose said in a falsely innocent voice.

 

Rey shrugged, but the warmth that was spreading inside of her at the memory of her night with Ben had nothing to do with the sunshine. “I exaggerated for dramatic purposes. The sex wasn’t _that_ good.”

 

“And all that blabbering on for months about how Ben Solo was the finest guy you’d ever laid eyes on and you wished he would do terrible things to you, did I imagine that too?”

 

Damn Rose and her pesky commitment to facts. True, Rey had made a few mentions of her attraction to Ben long before anything had happened. Or she might have talked Rose’s ear off about it. But in her defense, she’d never been hit so hard or so suddenly with a crush before.

 

She remembered the first time she’d seen Ben at the office, a few days after she had gotten the job. The other girls had warned her against the guys in finances and accounts who strutted around like they owned the place, with their expensive suits and feathered crop cuts. It was common knowledge that they kept a running tally of who could score the most within the female pool of employees, and if you partook, it was at your own risk.

 

Rey was well determined not to, until she saw a tall drink of water in an Armani suit, with jet-black curls and lips that looked like they could send you both to heaven and hell in quick succession. And once she had taken notice of Ben Solo, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Whenever her mind wasn’t busy with work, it was busy with him, calculating the odds that they would bump into each other in the elevator or at the coffee machine, imagining how she could possibly start a conversation with him, and, when she was feeling particularly frisky, fantasizing about after-hours trysts where he would call her to his office, berate her for sloppy file work and ask her how she counted on making it up to him. The scenarios varied, but they all ended with Ben fucking her on his desk without so much as loosening his tie.

 

When she’d finally had her chance to flirt with him at the bar hop and he was more than responsive, she thought it was a Christmas miracle. That’s why she hadn’t paced herself like she should have. What on earth had she been thinking, inviting him back to her place, letting him in on both her darkest fantasies and her ridiculous fancy for seasonal decorations? She had let the holiday spirit trick her into thinking good things happened to good people, that Ben was some sort of karmic reward, and ended up rejected and humiliated.

 

Never again, she decided, letting her eyes stray to where Finn and Poe were playing beach volley, or at least trying to. It would be a cold day in hell – or here - before she let her guard down in front of Ben Solo again.

 

“Speak of the devil,” Rose murmured.

 

Rey followed her friend’s gaze. Hux and Ben were setting their things down on vacant lounge chairs and Poe waved at them from the volley court.

 

“I sure hope you guys are better at this game than they are,” Rose called aloud.

 

“I don’t think we can be any worse,” Hux replied. “You ladies want to play?”

 

“I might consider it after my fourth cocktail,” Rey said.

 

“Great, that way you’ll puke in the sand instead of puking in my beach bag,” Rose noted. “You guys go ahead, we’ll join in later.”

 

They walked down the beach, now shirtless. Rey couldn't help but glance over Ben's toned body, from his broad back to his perfectly shaped ass. He was even more muscular than she remembered, or perhaps she had been deprived of the sight of a naked man for so long that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She was only glad the direction of her gaze was hidden by her sunglasses. Rose, however, had no such qualms, and pushed them down to get a better look.

 

“You told me he was a pompous jerk, but how pompous exactly?” she asked. “Maybe if you gagged him or something, that way you could only enjoy the good parts.”

 

“That's uncharacteristically crude of you, Rosie. What happened to _good for you for standing up for yourself_? _Let the bastard have it_?”

 

“It's the eighties, honey. We've got money, independence and the pill. We can have everything we want.”

 

*

 

No more heavy drinking before nightfall. No engaging in conversations with Ben. And definitely, _definitely_ no fantasizing about anything they had done or could do. Those were the three rules Rey set for herself in order to survive this holiday, and for about twelve hours, she stuck to them.

 

The next day was impossibly bright and sunny, and the ocean impossibly turquoise. They had headed over to the beach right after breakfast and Finn had suggested they all go for a swim. Of course, leave it to Hux to immediately counter-offer with a race to the nearest buoy.

 

“Eh, I’ll wait this one out,” Rey said. “I’m not in the mood to swim.”

 

“Really?” said Rose. “You usually love that sort of stupid challenge.”

 

“I think I had too big a breakfast.”

 

In fact, Rey just needed some time to be alone with her thoughts. She floundered in the shallow waters, watching the race from a distance. Ben was by far the strongest swimmer, his powerful arms propelling him forward with ease. A vivid memory flashed through her mind of how these same arms had lifted her up on her kitchen counter as if she weighed nothing before he had fucked her senseless for the first time that night. And that voice of his. Oh, that voice.

 

 _Don't go there, Rey_ , she admonished herself. _Don't you dare._

 

_Are you always this dirty with a near stranger, or am I just lucky? That's right, sweetheart, keep saying my name. I'll give it to you any way you want until you’re hoarse from screaming. Now bend over._

 

 _No, Rey, you stop that immediately,_ she countered, because she knew what was coming next. She’d beat off to it enough times in the last twelve months. But it was no use.

 

_Let me eat out that gorgeous cunt of yours. Spread your legs. Fuck, you taste so good, I could do this for hours._

 

Rey closed her eyes, trying and failing to calm herself. Even in the water, she could feel the slickness of her arousal. Infatuation could sometimes end like a wet firework that failed to go off, with a lackluster roll in the sack that was nothing like what you had imagined. With Ben it was the exact opposite. She'd never been with anyone who was so immediately in tune to her most shameful fantasies - and so out of tune with who she was outside of bed.

 

_All that crap is for people who have nothing else in their life and use Christmas to give themselves a false sense of joy._

 

Obviously she still wasn't over it. Any of it. Maybe she should just go back to her chair and lie down. She had only taken a few steps when a searing pain suddenly coursed all the way up her right leg.

 

“FUCK!” she yelped out. “Bloody fucking hell! What the shit?”

 

As she hobbled back towards the shore, she was dimly aware that the others had heard and were swimming to meet her. She plopped down on the sand and looked at her right foot. There was an angry red rash on the spine.

 

“Rey, what happened?” Rose asked as she and Finn ran to her.

 

“I stepped on something,” Rey hissed. “I don't know if it's a jellyfish or a sea urchin...”

 

“If it was on the sea floor it’s gotta be an urchin,” Finn said. “You didn't see it through the water?”

 

Rey shook her head, thankful that her pain would prevent anyone from asking why she hadn't been looking.

 

At that moment Ben joined them, breathless from swimming back in a hurry. “What's wrong?”

 

“Rey stepped on a sea urchin,” Rose said, frowning in concern. “Should we get a doctor?”

 

Ben knelt down next to her and took her foot in his hands with surprising gentleness. “There aren't any puncture wounds so it can't be an urchin. More likely a sea sponge.”

 

“Wonderful,” Rey said with a mirthless laugh. “Leave it to me to get injured by the most harmless animal ever.”

 

“We should get you back to your hotel room and rinse this over with warm water.”

 

Rose and Finn made to help her up but Ben shook his head. Before Rey could say anything, he slipped one arm under her knees and the other around her torso.

 

“Hang on to my neck.”

 

“What? No, I -”

 

“It'll be quicker this way.”

 

She relented and he stood up, lifting her with ease. Out of the corner her eye, Rey swore she could see Rose trying very hard to keep a straight face.

 

“You guys go to the pharmacy,” Ben said. “They'll know what to give her.”

 

As he carried her away, Rey felt as if the blush on her cheeks was burning stronger than the rash on her foot.

 

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

 

“Don't mention it,” he replied, and she swore she could hear a small catch in his voice.

 

But no, she must be imagining things. He must have had plenty of other girls after her. Had their one-night stand even made a blip on his radar? He probably owned a little black book full of sculptural beauties who were all too glad to indulge him in his own fantasies and thought Christmas was childish nonsense.

 

Be that as it may, right now she was the one cradled in his arms in nothing but a wet bikini. And he had to feel her nipples which were currently, to her absolute horror, pebbled and brushing against his bare skin.

 

“They're not so harmless, by the way,” he said suddenly, as if he was trying to distract both of them. “Sea sponges. They can release little spinucles that cause a rash on human skin.”

 

“Really?” Rey asked, trying to sound politely interested. “How do you know that?”

 

“I read something about it when I visited the New York Aquarium.”

 

This time he swallowed audibly. Rey tightened her grip on his neck, wishing they would get to her room already – and somehow wishing at the same time that he would never let her go.

 

 

*

 

After a dab of disinfectant and some topical ointment, Rey’s foot was all better, but the pharmacist had recommended that she stay off the beach until the next day so as not to get sand or salt water on the rash. Poe and Hux had offered for her to stay in their suite, which was on the ground floor and included a dining area and a deck facing the beach.

 

“Hey, how about I go see if I can get some decorations?” she suggested. “Didn’t you want us to have our Christmas dinner on the patio tonight?”

 

“Um… why not,” Poe said. “Just don’t go too crazy.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m not even sure I’ll find anything in the tourist shops.”

 

She did find something, but not much. Between the snow globes, the gaudy postcards and the seashell art, there were a few souvenirs that could pass as ornaments and, miraculously, a small plastic tree. It was neon pink, but she would take it. At least it had a certain ironic quality to it.

 

When she returned to Poe and Hux’s room, she was surprised to find Ben sitting on the deck, in the shade the large umbrella. She set down her plastic bag warily.

 

“Hey,” she said, sliding the bay window open. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I wanted to get off the beach. I feel like I’m a rotisserie chicken out there.” She smirked and he went on. “Finn and Rose are still tanning, and Poe and Hux wanted to take a walk someplace called Lovers’ Lookout.”

 

“Right.” She glanced at her bag and the pink plastic branches sticking out of it. “I… just got back from running a few errands.”

 

He looked at her quizzically. She hesitated, then blurted out: “A Christmas tree. And a few decorations. Just for tonight. I thought...”

 

She waved her hand vaguely. If he wanted to laugh at her, fine, he could go right ahead. She wouldn’t let herself be deterred.

 

“Oh, right. Do you want me to leave? Or… I could help you, if you want.”

 

“You would help me?”

 

“Sure. It’s been awhile since I trimmed a tree.”

 

She sighed. “I can guarantee you never trimmed one like this before.”

 

They got to work, installing the tree in a corner of the deck. Then Rey brought the bag with the ornaments in them and Ben pulled up two plastic deck chairs.

 

“I didn’t find proper ones so I got...”

 

“… key chains,” Ben said, holding up a grinning porpoise. “Ingenious.”

 

“I bet you wouldn’t think you’d be doing _this_ over the holidays.”

 

Hr frowned, obviously ill at ease. “Look Rey, I’ve been meaning to tell you… I’m sorry.”

 

Her mouth curled into a smile. “I can't exactly blame you for not wanting to accompany Hux and Poe to Lovers' Lookout.”

 

“No, I’m sorry about all of this. The trip, everything. I didn't know you would be there, or else I never would've come.”

 

“Oh.”

 

She delicately placed a sparkly dolphin on a branch and pressed her lips together, filled with a sinking feeling. She had already gotten the message loud and clear that he didn't want anything to do with her a year ago, so why did he feel the need to rub it in?

 

“I don't mean that the way you think I mean it,” he continued, reading her expression, then shook his head. “I swear, every time I open my mouth in front of you, I feel like the wrong thing comes out.”

 

 _Except in bed_ , she wanted to say, but vied for a more reasonable answer. “Or you're just being honest, and it's my problem for not liking what you have to say.”

 

“That's the thing, though. Last Christmas, what you heard me say in the break room -”

 

It was her turn to shake her head. “Please, let's just forget about that.”

 

“Rey.”

 

He took her hand in his and she looked at him, a light shiver coursing up her spine. Why did he have to have such an effect on her? She withdrew her fingers quickly. Any more contact and she’d cave in to the searing want that was coiling within her.

 

“People have always pigeonholed me, you know,” she said. “I make delicate ceramics instead of throwing random globs of paint at a canvas, so I’m not a real artist. I care about the people I love and want to make them happy, so I’m just a goody two-shoes. I love Christmas, so I’m a pathetic, frustrated biddy who will end up living alone with twelve cats.”

 

“I don’t think _any_ of those things about you,” Ben insisted. “I should know.”

 

Rey bit her lip and stared at the plastic tree. He was finally acknowledging what had happened between them that night, and she couldn’t have stood to see the slightest hint of mockery in his gaze.

 

“I mean, I’ve watched you around the office. People come to you with their problems. They trust you. They know you’ll never laugh at them or turn them away. Let’s face it, working at Galaxy Advertising sucks for anyone who isn’t a coke-addled moron, yet you bring cheer and joy to everyone and make each day a little bit more bearable.”

 

“Is that truly how you see me?”

 

“Yeah. It is. It always has been.”

 

She turned towards him. This time, despite a nagging afterthought that he might be bullshitting her, she couldn’t reign in her desire. He lifted a hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and they edged closer to one another, their mouths almost touching -

 

“He-ey, we’re back! Are you guys still here?”

 

They leaped away from each other so fast Ben nearly toppled his chair. He stood up awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself. Face ablaze, Rey fumbled with the decorations she had left. Poe and Hux appeared on the deck, hand in hand.

 

“Yeah, um, I was just about to go change,” Ben said. “See you guys at dinner.”

 

Poe watched him leave and raised an eyebrow. Rey quickly finished up the tree, avoiding his gaze.

 

“So, how was Lovers’ Lookout?”

 

“Predictable,” Hux quipped. “Plus there was garbage leftover from a picnic or something. It’s crazy they didn’t think of putting a bin there.”

 

“It was lovely and he’s just being a grouch,” Poe said, then headed towards the bathroom. “I’m going to go take a shower. Care to join me?”

 

“In a moment, babe.”

 

Rey gave a little laugh. “How do you know he wasn’t talking to me?” Hux didn’t crack a smile. She stood up and cleared her throat. “Well, I guess I better go change too.”

 

He crossed his arms and stared out at the sea. “You know, I didn’t bring Ben along for no reason,” he said after a moment.

 

Rey threw him a sideways glance. Was he really about to get bitchy with her, a few hours before Christmas Eve? “Excuse me?”

 

“You set me up with the man of my dreams,” he replied in a clipped tone. “It’s only natural I do the same for you, isn’t it?”

 

A blush of embarrassment crept to her cheeks. “Poe wasn’t supposed to tell you about that.”

 

He really wasn’t. Everyone at Galaxy Advertising talked about how Armitage Hux was nothing but a philandering bastard who treated chicks like meat, yet when you scratched the surface, none of the girls had actually slept with him. Rey had her suspicions, but they’d only been confirmed when she’d seen him in the café where she usually went to get a coffee on Saturdays; the specific clientele of that establishment ensured that no one would come chat her up. She was sitting in the back and Hux hadn’t seen her, but she’d watched, equal parts fascinated and mortified, as he’d waited half an hour for a date that had shown up only to size him up, laugh, and turn the other way immediately. Rey had never seen someone look so utterly deflated, and heaven help her, she had felt a surge of pity for Hux. Dating in this city was brutal, and even more so when you were a closeted gay man without the required six-pack abs.

 

“Come on, you owe me one,” she’d told Poe later. “Several, in fact.”

 

“I’m not going to sleep with some schmuck from your office because he’s too scrawny to get laid on his own,” Poe had replied, not even looking up from his newspaper.

 

“I’m not asking you to sleep with him. Just… flirt with him a little. Boost his ego. Look, I know people are tolerant and free-spirited over at Force, but it’s not the same with us. The poor guy pretended to make a chart comparing cup sizes in the office just to pass as straight. Any more of this and he’ll end up married in Connecticut with a girl his mom set him up with, and miserable for the rest of his life.”

 

Poe folded his newspaper down and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine. Where can I find this catch and _just flirt_ with him?”

 

“You’re the best,” she replied, kissing his cheek. “He usually does happy hour at the bar on the corner of our building.”

 

But they’d done a bit more than flirt, of course. Poe was never one to keep it in his pants for very long, and they’d been joined at the hip ever since. Rey had begged her friend not to tell Hux about her role in their story, because she didn’t want him to be ashamed and uneasy at work, knowing someone was in on his secret. And now she couldn’t help but feel silly that Hux knew she had played cupid.

 

“Poe didn’t tell me,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching. “I figured it out when he introduced me to you and you pretended to act shocked. You’re a bad liar, almost as bad as Ben.”

 

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

 

“All that crap after the bar hop, about how he didn’t sleep with you and he thought Christmas was a load of shit… None of it was true. He was just trying to get us all off his back, and if those jackasses we work with weren’t dumber than a bag of bricks, they would’ve seen right through it.”

 

Rey closed her eyes for a second, overwhelmed with the realization this is what Ben had tried to tell her. “Oh shit. _Shit_. I never knew that. I thought -”

 

“I know what you thought, and I can’t blame you. I’m just righting a wrong here. Merry Christmas.”

 

“Well… thank you, Hux. That’s very kind of you.”

 

They shared a smile. “I’m not just doing it for you, by the way,” he said. “Ben has been moping about this for a whole year and I can’t take much more of his self-inflicted celibacy. Someone has to take his mind off his spreadsheets before the entire department goes crazy.”

 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Rey said, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

 

 

*

 

Ben Solo was going to get laid tonight.

 

Rey was wearing the best lingerie outfit she had brought (the only one that wasn’t plain cotton, in fact, with the vague idea it could always come in handy), a dark burgundy lace number that pushed up her boobs just right under her tight black dress. She was razored smooth, perfumed all over, and ready to corner this gorgeous specimen of a man at the first opportunity, asking if he would please turn her into a quivering wreck like only he knew how.

 

Sure. That ought to work.

 

But first, dinner. Room service had brought large platters of sea food to Poe and Hux’s room and enough bottles of fine white wine to hold a siege. All paid for, Poe informed them, by Ben, as a Christmas present to them all.

 

“As such, I think it’s only appropriate if you give the toast,” he added.

 

Ben looked embarrassed, but proceeded nonetheless. “To Christmas,” he said, raising his glass. “This is the first time I’m spending with people I actually like.”

 

“Aw, that’s so sweet,” Rose said with a grin.

 

“Yes, and even more so since you’re sober right now,” Finn added. “Hear, hear.”

 

They attacked the sea food platter with a vengeance and the bottles of wine emptied at a steady pace. Rey kept glancing at Ben over the table with her best come-hither look, hoping he would get the message, and after a few glasses, his own stare was intense enough to burn a hole in her panties. Yes, he was reading her loud and clear. All she had to do was wait until everyone went to bed, and then…

 

“Okay, we’re going skinny dipping,” Poe announced, slapping his napkin on the table.

 

“What?” Rose exclaimed. “No way!”

 

“Oh yes, we are. Come on, when are we ever going to get the chance again to go swimming at midnight on Christmas Eve?”

 

“All right, but I’m not getting naked,” Finn said. “I’m keeping my underwear on.”

 

“Whatever. Let’s just go out into the ocean and be at one with the elements.”

 

“Wow, you’re _crazy_ drunk,” Rey laughed. “Stay in shallow water, please, I don’t think there’s a lifeguard on duty right now.”

 

They stood from the table and Hux went to switch off the light in the suite before stripping down, then chasing after Poe who was already running across the beach without a lick of clothing. Finn and Rose bounded after them, leaving only Rey and Ben. She took off her dress in one quick movement, then watched as Ben rid himself of his pants and shirt.

 

Once he was in his boxers, he turned to her. “Shall we -”

 

Before he could finish his question, she grabbed his wrist and pulled her to him, catching his mouth with hers. His eyes widened in shock, but he quickly gave in to the kiss, letting his hands roam over her sparsely clad body.

 

“I want you,” she breathed against his lips. “I want you now.”

 

“What, right here? Shouldn’t we go to your room or -”

 

“That can wait. I can’t.”

 

She led him back into the suite and leaned against the wall next to the sofa, teasingly tugging at the band of his boxers. He enclosed her between his arms.

 

“You seriously want me to fuck you against the wall?” he murmured, his voice laced with amusement and arousal. “Shit, you’re really -” He paused for a moment, as if he had just thought of something. “You really are a _very naughty_ girl, Rey. I don’t know if you deserve a present.”

 

She arched into him, batting her eyelashes. “I’ve been good all year, I swear.”

 

“How good?” His expression darkened and he gripped the fleshy curve of her ass, grinding his erection against the bundle of nerves that was tightening in her center. “Did you touch yourself, thinking only of me?”

 

“I did,” she answered. “Almost every night.”

 

“Did it make you wet?”

 

“It made me soaking wet, remembering how good it was when you fucked me.”

 

He let out a moan and nipped at her neck. “I can’t wait anymore either.”

 

“Say it first,” she demanded. “Say you like Christmas.”

 

“No, I don’t like it,” he growled. “I love it. I _fucking_ _love_ Christmas.” Their mouths melded again, then he brusquely flipped her over so she was facing the wall, letting his fingers hover over her ribs. “Should I tell you how much I love it?”

 

He brushed his thumbs over the lace edge of her bra, then slipped under it to tease her nipples - “I love the beautiful ornaments,” - slid his palms down her stomach - “I love the pure, soft expanses of snow,” - rolled her panties down her thighs - “I love unwrapping presents,” - cupped her slick warmth - “and I love indulging in a warm, delicious Christmas feast.”

 

He hooked a finger inside of her and she cried out. His left hand flew up to her mouth to cover it.

 

“Quiet now, they’ll hear you all the way down to the ocean.” A second finger entered her. “You like that?” She nodded, and he dragged the friction out with maddening precision. “How about this? You want it faster?”

 

She slammed her eyes shut and nodded again. Ben’s breathing was harsh and labored. He was getting just as much pleasure out of this as she was, and it drove her crazy to know that anything she would ask for, he would gladly give her.

 

“Tell me, baby, does that sweet cunt of yours want more?”

 

She broke free from his hand and whimpered. “Yes – _yes_ , but – ah – grab my hair, Ben. _Please_.”

 

“There’s my girl,” he panted. “Your wish is my command.”

 

He positioned himself at her entrance, then wound his fingers tightly in her hair before sliding his full length into her in one sudden thrust. Soon the room was filled with their groans of pleasure and the sound of their flesh slapping together. Rey didn’t care who heard, just as long as this never, ever stopped. She begged him to go harder, over and over, but it was never hard enough, and it was only when Ben bent over to bite roughly into her shoulder that she climaxed, uttering an incoherent string of curses.

 

It only took him a second more to join her. When they had both stopped moving, Ben stepped back and lay down naked on the tiled floor.

 

“Fuck. Fuck, you nearly killed me,” he wheezed. “Holy shit. That was amazing.”

 

She gingerly pulled her panties back up. “I agree. It was… everything I wanted, really.”

 

“Damn.” He stared up at the ceiling. “If that’s the golden standard, I’m going to have to hit the gym more often.”

 

She giggled and held out her hand to help him up. “That’s a good resolution. Make a note of it for New Year’s Eve.”

 

“You make a note of it,” he said, pulling her in for a kiss. “I fully plan on spending it with you. You’re my holiday essential now.”

 

“Well, if that’s the case,” she purred, backing away and picking his boxers off the floor, “I guess you won’t need these.”

 

And she bolted for the beach before he could catch her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year everyone! May it be filled with joy, success, love and excellent Reylo fics. This was written for GeekGoddess09, who asked for Ben acting like a Grinch but secretly loving Christmas and holiday rental mix-up shenanigans, and obviously enjoys shirtless Ben very much. Hope you liked it, my dear <3
> 
> Savvy readers will have recognised where the title comes from, hence the setting. Also, per Google (in one of the weirder searches I've done for one of my stories), if you ever step on a sea urchin or a sea sponge, definitely go to the doctor instead of banging your hot co-worker.


End file.
